now I have a question. I have 2 YS-90DX strobes. On friday I'll be getting a nikon D80, Sea & sea housing and their TTL converter. I'll let everyone know how it works.

my question -

I was thinking of getting one more strobe, maybe a YS-110 or INON Z240, so then i'll have one strobe as a backup. Does anyone know for sure if the TTL will or wont work correctly if I use mixed strobes ?

Thanks a lot!!! I'll have to borrow my friend's converter II to test this out!!!I'm looking forward to TTL underwater!!!

Thanks!

Just one word of caution. I believe the Sea and Sea TTL Converter cable that connects to the housing is a 6pin cable (or at least it is for the Canon converter). Some of the Sea & Sea housing may have both a 6pin and a 5pin one. If not, the housing needs to be sent in to be converted from 5pin to 6pin.

Jim Decker here at Backscatter has tested various combinations of Sea & Sea TTL Controllers, strobes, and housings over the last few months. Planned to post results on our site, but haven't completed testing. We received so many calls from this post, that I thought I should share our rough preliminary results. Skip below for the test results...

My 2 cents on digital TTL: Personally, I'm not jonesing for TTL, but I'd welcome a good solution that auto-corrects for quick changes in strobe to subject distances. Unfortunately, digital TTL is not as easy as it sounds. Each camera has unique code and the strobe manufacturers are struggling to keep up even in the topside world.

We've tried the various in-housing TTL circuits with poor results on compatibility and reliability. The Sea & Sea controller has been the most field worthy system with our clients, but it suffers from the same issues we had with film TTL years ago.... fragile sync cord connector design.

All sync connector designs (Nikonos, Ikelite, Subtronic, Wetlink, EO, Nelson, ICS) are not robust enough for sloppy, low maintenance, marine use. I'm working on a new design, but welcome others to get involved. If you shot film TTL, then you know how difficult it is to keep 5-6 pins connected at low voltage.

If you're a new shooter looking to make one of these digital TTL systems work, treat your sync connections like an open wound. Keep it clean and dry.. let it breathe. Don't pop out a sync cord and slap on the caps and plugs as you'll just be sealing in the moisture. Carefully clean and install your sync cords in good light (with glasses if necessary). If you're not willing to do this level of maintenance, I'd recommend you stick to manual strobe technique as manual connection requires less maintenance...

>>>>>>>

Test notes: The below tests were performed in our product photo booth, not underwater.

Sea & Sea TTL controller testing results--Strobes >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Strobes must be in TTL mode.Must turn controller on first.Controller passes preflash signals to strobes.Strobes working correctly emit multiple flashes (preflash).All tests performed with Nikon camera bodies and N version Controllers.

Fires multiple preflashes and main flash, but exposure is not correct:Ikelite DS125Ikelite DS200Inon Z240Inon D2000W/WnSea and Sea YS-350

Fires only first preflash, but not remaining preflashes, will not fire the main flash:Nikon SB-105Ikelite DS-50Ikelite SS-50Sea and Sea TTL controller testing results—Cameras / Housings >>>>>>>>>>>>>

Each housing manufacturer has unique sync circuit wiring. New Sea & Sea housings with a "controller" labeled sync port are good to go. Older Sea & Sea housings need modification. All Subal and Aquatica housings need electronic modification to prevent a feedback loop... except the Nikon D200 housing which will work with full 5 pin sync ports.

Nikon D200: works with Sea & Sea, Subal, Aquatica 5 pin sync ports

Nikon D70: requires 5 pin sync port modified for ground isolation

D2X, D2Xs: does not work with or without isolation mod. Strobe does full dump, no preflashes.

D100, D50: no complete testing performed

Canon cameras: Minimal testing performed. Housings will need the special Sea and Sea 6 pin strobe bulkhead. Currently only available for the Sea and Sea housings. Comes stock in Sea and Sea 5D housing. Special modification available to add Sea & Sea 6-pin bulkhead to Subal, Aquatica, and older Sea & Sea housings.

Hi jim could you clarify using the sea and sea converter with the aquatica/ d2x/ inon240 combination. thanks

I had tested the D2X previously with the original converter and the D2X would do a full dump with no preflsahes, no TTL. I just tested D2X with the converter II and had the same results. Strobe used was a YS-90DX.

In testing the Inon strobes with the Sea and Sea converter and D200, I was getting preflashes and the compensation dial was stepping the exposure up and down accordingly, but the exposure was overexposed when the converter was set to zero. This test was conducted in our photo booth where we do our product shots for the website. (The boss won't let me go out and dive all day! )The Z240 in identical controlled conditions as the YS-90 had a brighter exposure than the YS-90. I know others have posted on this site that they are getting good results with the Z240 and the Sea and Sea TTL converter, but I want to share my results when comparing 2 different strobes in identical shooting conditions.

I've been shooting with a D200 with YS-90 strobes and the converter in both Sea and Sea and Subal housings with the 105VR for macro and the TTL has been spot on. However, I still prefer manual for wide angle.

Sea&Sea web site now present a new compatibility list for TTL CONVERTER I and II. Very important informations about compatibility between flash and converters ttl. The new Ys 110 don't work with TTL CONVERTER I.You can see my tests from here. I still testing the TTL CONVERTER II with DX-D200 and D200.Sorry, for the moment the web page is only in italian. Thank you to Fracosub (italian Sea&Sea delear) for helping me in tests with differents flashs and converters. I hope tests could help other Sea&Sea owners.

I use the Sea & sea TTL Converter II in macro mode with a Sea & Sea D200 housing, and two YS 90 Duo strobes (the second is not attached to the controller, but works in slave or manual mode). I figured out that if the strobe setting on the D200 is in "rear curtain" mode, the converter does not work in TTL, but as if it was in manual mode. As soon as I am in another mode that the rear curtain, it works perfectly in TTL. Anybody had this problem ??? and anybody knows why ?

No Aquatica housing in its stock wiring configuration will work w/ the Sea & Sea TTL Converter. [EDIT]Unless otherwise requested{/EDIT]Aquatica is wiring housings for manual strobes only, w/ only Trigger & Ground connected. The TTL Converter requires all five conductors to be active between the camera and the converter. Housings can be retrofitted with properly wired Nikonos connectors, though.

Subal does this out of the box, as do most European companies. Nexus does via NCC camera connector, NOT the popular NCC-V2.

If a converter is attached to an Aquatica housing in its stock wiring configuration, any strobe attached will unload a full dump.

I do not judge a strobes accuracy w/ the converter by seeing how well it exposes out of the box. Correct exposure is subjective, and no two cameras that I own expose exactly the same way. I had f100 film cameras that were more than 1 stop hot, and had to be tested before trips and dialed back to give the exposure I wanted. Once adjusted they were very consistent from stopped down to wide open.

The Inon strobes behave similarly w/ this converter They are hot out of the box (sometimes by more than 1 stop), but once pulled back w/ the camera's flash exposure compensation control they yield very consistent exposures over a significantly broader aperture range than the "old" Sea & Sea strobes do, and slightly broader than the "new" YS-110 strobe.

The Ikelite converter is absolutely stellar w/ the d200 and d80 cameras. I have done 100 shot intervals with it, and the consistency across the entire range is impressive. The d2x isn't as consistent, but that may be fixed with a software update.

I hope to build a library article w/ examples from all of these different converters in the near future. I've explained it hundreds of times on the phone now...

No Aquatica housing in its stock wiring configuration will work w/ the Sea & Sea TTL Converter. Aquatica is wiring housings for manual strobes only, w/ only Trigger & Ground connected. The TTL Converter requires all five conductors to be active between the camera and the converter. Housings can be retrofitted with properly wired Nikonos connectors, though.

Subal does this out of the box, as do most European companies. Nexus does via NCC camera connector, NOT the popular NCC-V2.

If a converter is attached to an Aquatica housing in its stock wiring configuration, any strobe attached will unload a full dump.

I do not judge a strobes accuracy w/ the converter by seeing how well it exposes out of the box. Correct exposure is subjective, and no two cameras that I own expose exactly the same way. I had f100 film cameras that were more than 1 stop hot, and had to be tested before trips and dialed back to give the exposure I wanted. Once adjusted they were very consistent from stopped down to wide open.

The Inon strobes behave similarly w/ this converter They are hot out of the box (sometimes by more than 1 stop), but once pulled back w/ the camera's flash exposure compensation control they yield very consistent exposures over a significantly broader aperture range than the "old" Sea & Sea strobes do, and slightly broader than the "new" YS-110 strobe.

The Ikelite converter is absolutely stellar w/ the d200 and d80 cameras. I have done 100 shot intervals with it, and the consistency across the entire range is impressive. The d2x isn't as consistent, but that may be fixed with a software update.

I hope to build a library article w/ examples from all of these different converters in the near future. I've explained it hundreds of times on the phone now...

Hi Ryan, how are you doing?

You can ask Aquatica to connect the five conductors, they are doing it if you ask.

It is common knowledge to all of the Aquatica dealers that they can order the bulkhead configuration as per the customer requirement, we routinely ship our housing (which come with standard double bulkhead BTW) in 5 pins or 2 pins configuration even original Ikelite bulkhead are available and if the customer so require we can install his/her supplied bulkhead configuration also.

Ryan, I would say that quoting us as "Aquatica is wiring housings for manual strobes only" is misleading, if anything we are flexible and attentive to the customer specific needs.

Also please note that in collaboration with Ikelite an agreement now allows us to use their bulkhead so that the customer can now use the same sync cable with or with out the TTL adapter. Working together is so much better for the consumer !